Today I played a local Empire player, Sam. He and I have played several games before but only with my Skaven. Since I'm trying to learn the army and a few tactics before a tournament in February I figured I'd play against him as a little practice.
Normally he plays a very cav-heavy list which absolutely rolls my Skaven so I went into this game thinking he'd run the same type of list. To my surprise, he ran an infantry heavy list (which I believe he's never done) so we rolled with it!
1800 Ogres V.S. Empire
Ogres:Lords:
Slaughtermaster
Level 4
Dispel Scroll
Crown of Command
Dragonhelm
Core:
9x Ogre Bulls
Full Command
Ironfists
8x Ironguts
Full Command
Banner of Swiftness
10x Gnoblars
Trappers
10x Gnoblars
Trappers
Special:
3x Leadbelchers
3x Leadbelchers
2x Mournfang Cavalry
Heavy Armor
Ironfists
Rare:
Thundertusk
Empire:Lords:
Arch Lector
Talisman of Preservation
Sword of Might
War Altar
Heroes:
Battle Wizard
Dispel Scroll
Level 2
Engineer
Captain
White Cloak
Battle Standard Bearer
Shield
Core:
39x Swordsmen
Full Command
10x Crossbowmen
10x Crossbowmen
Special:
35x Greatswords
Full Command
Rare:
Celestial Hurricanum
Hellblaster
Deployment
The Empire's army marches forward on an unusually warm day in the plains of Mount Mourn. To their right, are two areas of extremely fast-acting quicksand. In front of them, they spot a Shrine of Sigmarite. As the Empire army marches forward they reach a hill, upon reaching the top of the hill the catch the stench of something awful.
Rushing towards them is an extremely dirty and grungy bunch of Ogres and Gnoblars. Their weapons soaked in blood and dirt, blood pouring down their greased skin. The Ogres are on the hunt for some new meat. The mountains have not been kind this year and food is scarce.
Empire Turn 1:
The Empire's men hold fast, not moving a single muscle.
The Celestial Hurricanum, in a blaze of light, releases Storm of Shimtek but it's of no use. The wind picks up heavily and moves the storm off course.
A unit of Crossbowmen raise their weapons, Gnoblars in sight, and release a barrage of bolts which wounds three Gnoblars. In a shrill scream, the Gnoblars see their comrades fall and PANIC! and attempt to run further away from the source of the crossbow bolts. Another unit of Crossbowmen brings Leadbelchers into their sights unleashing another barrage of bolts. Two bolts find their target but the Leadbelcher merely flinches and presses on.
Ogre Turn 1:
Shrugging off the recent barrage of crossbow bolts, the Ogres make their advance. The panicking Gnoblars rally and rejoin their allies. The rest of the Ogres rush forward.
The Ogre's Slaughtermaster begins to chant to the Great Maw. However, the Maw doesn't deem the Ogres fit and denies any magic.
In a fit of rage, the Leadbelchers attempt to appease their god by beginning the ruthless assault on the Empire men. Both units bring their weapons up and unleash a ruthless barrage which ends the lives of one crossbowmen and three Greatsword wielding warriors.
Empire Turn 2:
The Empire general commands his troops to inch forward, getting a better view of the battlefield. He begins to ponder his possible actions.
Similarly to the Ogres, Sigmar doesn't grant any magical benefits to the Empire army.
The crossbowmen raise their crossbows again, two bolts find their target in another unit of Leadbelchers and a lone bolt finds itself in the thick hide of a Mournfang. The hellblaster spins up blasting out a barrage of gunfire, unfortunately only one round finds a target in an Ogre Bull.
Ogre Turn 2:
The Slaughtermaster orders his units of Ironguts and Ogres to charge the Empire Swordsmen. Seeing the advance, the Empire general orders his troops to flee to a safe distance, he knows it's a front not worth fighting on. To the West, Mournfang Cavalry charge forward slamming into a unit of Crossbowmen.
The Ogre Slaughtermaster prepares more incantations to the Great Maw and it blesses the army as a hole rips open beneath the other unit of Crossbowmen, swallowing seven of them before releasing a satisfying burp. The remaining crossbowmen, not believing what just happened, quickly flee in terror.
Again, Leadbelchers raise their guns and successfully kill off five more Greatswords.
In combat, the Mournfang Cavalry survive the initial barrage of arrows and slay six crossbowmen. The remaining crossbowmen sink their short swords into the Mournfang and their riders slaying one of the two riders.
Empire Turn 3:
The Empire general orders his Greatswords to charge forward but they can't find the energy to run the distance. The panicking Crossbowmen continue to run and are marked as deserters.
The Empire Wizard manages to cast a Shield of Faith, bolstering everyone's defenses.
The Hellblaster spins up and an Irongut feels two sharp stings but shrugs it off.
The remaining Mournfang Cavalry tears through the remaining Crossbowmen and turn East-ward in preparation for his next move.
Ogre Turn 3:
Restless, the Ironguts lunge towards the Hellblaster in an attempt to stop the annoying gunfire but they can't muster up the energy to complete the long distance. Seeing the large crowd of Greatswords, Gnoblars rush forward and begin to lay down traps to protect their Irongut overlords.
Once again, the Great Maw denies any magic efforts.
The hulking Thundertusk launches a Sphere of Frost-wreathed Ice which successfully lands into the crowd of Swordsmen causing four of them to crumble.
Empire Turn 4:
Seizing the opportunity, the Greatswordsmen charge forward into the self-sacrificial Gnoblars. The Arch Lector riding his War Altar also charges forward into the Ironguts, accompanied by the Celestial Hurricanum. The Greatswordsmen complete their charge and leave behind three of their own who unfortunately find themselves in Gnoblar traps.
Sigmar grants the Empire Wyssan's Wildform, greatly increasing their morale and combat efforts.
The Hellblaster crew spots the Mournfang approaching it's flank and unleashes a ferocious blast which ends the life of the last Mournfang and its rider.
In close combat, the Gnoblars put up a feeble effort killing one Greatsword but ultimately crumbling under the crushing blows. The Greatswordsmen then overrun onto the flank of the Ironguts readying their attacks.
Between the Celestial Hurricanum and the Arch Lector's War Altar a fair share of impacts are dealt on the unit of Ironguts but the hulking ironfists and heavy armor helps shrug off some of the hardest hitting blows. Not amused by the hits, the Ironguts lash back at the Arch Lector and Hurricanum completely destroying both. The horses pulling the War Altar rear up and dash away from harm. Out of rage, the Ironguts reform to face the overrunning Greatswords and raise their weapons for their next attack.
Ogre Turn 4:
The Ogre Bulls charge forward, slamming into the Swordsmen.
Both units of Leadbelchers, tired of the constant gunfire, fire a round of shots at the Hellblaster but it's a feeble effort, only killing one crewman.
In combat, the Ironguts exchange eight blows for six blows on the Greatswords.
The Swordsmen, seeing the Ogres slam into them, begin to shake; they fear the coming onslaught. Struck by fear, the Ogres decimate thirteen Swordsmen causing them to run in panic only to be pursued and killed on sight.
Empire Turn 5:
The horse-pulled War Altar continues onward and disappears from the battle.
In a feeble last-ditch effort, the Hellblaster unleashes twenty shots but only find two of them embedded in the Thundertusk's thick hide.
The ongoing combat causes the Greatswords to fear the Ironguts dealing three wounds and taking a staggering nine, however they stand strong due to their stubbornness.
Ogre Turn 5:
The Thundertusk lets out a loud bellow and charges forward into the Greatswordsmen which kills all but three of them by himself.
The Leadbelchers set their sights on the Hellblaster once more, this time destroying it.
At this point my opponent decided to call it a good game, we shook hands, and reflected on the battle.
This was an absolutely fun game and it was interesting playing an army I'm not used to as well as playing an opponent I've played multiple times but with him playing a different type of list. I'd really love to play his cav-heavy list but we'll leave that up to discussion.
I also managed to learn A LOT about Ogres as this was only my second game with them (I lost to an OnG player who hordes squiq herds). A lot of mishaps happened in this game, many failed charges, magic was overall pretty weak, and I failed 3 2+ armor saves on my Mournfang with a roll of triple 1's. The lack of a BSB in this list really didn't sit right with me so I'll be revising my list to include one.
